It has been FOREVER since I posted a little something on my blog! Life is good here in Norman. Max is almost a year old and I cannot believe that I went to the hospital almost a year ago. Where did time go? The weather has been kind of cool here. Rainy too. I kind of wish it would stop and change to the better. I like rain in moderate amounts.

Tonight I am going to get a massage. Kim and Malin are going too. I have never had one before. Not by a professional anyway. I am kind of excited because I really think I need one. I feel so tense.

I miss home right now. I always do at this time of year. It is so special back home. Even more special than Christmas in a way. Thinking of Swedish Spring reminds me of growing up. I remember practicing with the marching band outside, marching around my home town of Vargon and getting brand new tennis shoes. And being able to ride my bike again on streets free of snow.

On April 30th we celebrate Valborg. This is the evening when the people of Sweden welcome in Spring. The holiday is especially celebrated in university communities. In Uppsala (site of Sweden's oldest university) students gather by the thousands in the afternoon and don their white caps to mark the change of the seasons. They listen to traditional hymns to Spring and student songs, to speeches hailing the end of the dark, cold winter and the return of the sun and summer greenery. The rest of Sweden welcomes Spring in similar fashion, often around large community bonfires. The idea of the Feast of Valborg as the first day of Spring is perhaps most widespread in Swedish towns and cities, while Spring traditionally reaches the countryside the following day, especially in the south.